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At the end of last term Higuain was tipped to join Juventus but when that move broke down he made it clear that he had made his mind up to leave Madrid.

That led to Arsenal being strongly linked to a move, while Rafa Benitez's Napoli have also been associated with viewing the forward as a replacement for Edinson Cavani.

With Madrid unwilling to let their star go on the cheap, the Spanish giants put a €40million price tag on his head and that is well within Chelsea's spending budget.

AS add that while Mourinho has stated his admiration for Manchester United's Wayne Rooney, and insisted he is Chelsea's only summer transfer target, that is a smokescreen to reveal that he wants to strengthen his front line at Stamford Bridge.

Mourinho is a big fan of Higuain and used him as a regular striker during his three years as head coach at Real Madrid.